Thanks very much for joining Sportsmail today. Gerard Brand will be with you at the same time tomorrow with all the news from Sir Alex Ferguson's press conference and extracts from the much-anticipated autobiography.

Charles Sale and Matt Lawton: The mess that has been created by the Football Association’s botched handling of two hugely sensitive race issues has called into question Greg Dyke’s position as chairman of the organisation.

After only four months in the role, Dyke finds himself at the centre of a crisis on and off the pitch at Wembley.

He has come under attack from at least one member of his own board over a lack of diversity or even a proper consultation process within his new FA commission, while the public row with director Heather Rabbatts has been a source of huge embarrassment to the former BBC director general.

Charlie Mulgrew provoked a furore when he appeared to post a naked picture of himself with an unknown woman on Twitter.

The Celtic midfielder on Sunday posted the provocative image along with the hashtag 'nofilter', meaning the image had not been doctored or filtered after being taken.

The nude man in the picture bore more than a passing resemblance to the Scotland international, with his dark, short-back-and-sides haircut, beard and athletic physique. But Mulgrew has since moved to confirm that it was not him in the picture.

Danny Graham is set to be sidelined for around three weeks with the injury he suffered in Saturday’s game at Everton.

Although scans have revealed the striker escaped serious injury following a first half challenge by Gareth Barry, severe bone bruising around the knee will keep the on-loan Sunderland man out of action until next month with a return to action in our away game against Southampton a possibility.

Joe Ridge: The international break can be a blessing or a curse for a club, but rarely is it neither.

Momentum, positive or negative, is usually lost. It is far from an exact science but Barnsley's 3-2 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday is a case in point.

Barnsley headed into the recent two-week break bottom of the Championship table on a six-game winless run. Before beating Boro, they only had one win to their name this season, and that came way back in August.

Sami Mokbel: Here's a question: who's better, Mesut Ozil or David Silva? 'At the minute Silva is probably better,' said West Ham midfielder Mark Noble after the Spaniard’s vintage performance propelled Manchester City to their first Premier League away win of the season.

'He has got that experience. He has won things with Spain. He has won a championship here, he has won cups here and he is like that week in, week out.

'He is one of the best players on the pitch every time he goes out there. We have seen that over the last how many years since he has been here.'

Matt Barlow: Ashley Cole will miss Chelsea's Champions League tie in Germany tomorrow. Cole is still feeling the effects of a rib injury and has been not risked ahead of Man City on Sunday. Andre Schurrle, who missed Saturday's win against Cardiff has travelled.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger joked that everyone in football 'feared the worst' about what former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson might have to say about them in his forthcoming autobiography.

Ferguson is set to hold a press conference on Tuesday to officially launch his new book. It is expected to contain some typically forthright views on a variety of topics and personalities in the game, including memories of his long rivalry with Gunners boss Wenger.

The pair have been through their fair share of confrontations - including the infamous ‘Pizzagate’ episode at Old Trafford in October 2004 where representatives from both sides were involved in an ugly fracas following the end of Arsenal’s unbeaten run after 49 games.

Jack Wilshere took the plaudits for goal of the weekend with his tiki-taka strike against Norwich but Stephanie Roach of Peamount United will be pleased that her effort didn't completely slip under the radar.

The 27-year-old Ireland international scored a screamer in the Bus Eireann Women's National League of Ireland to help her side to a comprehensive 6-1 victory.

The move started from a throw-in before Roche took control of a floated pass, turned her marker inside-out and rifled a volley past the Wrexford Youth keeper.

Flares advertised for 'football' and 'ideal for hooligans' are being sold on the internet.

For as little as €2 (£1.70) for a pack of four, supporters can easily arm themselves with the devices.

After a simple search on Google to 'buy flares' by Sportsmail, the second result had flares in stock, similar to the one which hit assistant referee David Bryan during Tottenham's 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, and readily available.

Matt Barlow: Schalke coach Jens Keller says he's confident Kevin Prince Boateng will be back after injury to face Chelsea tomorrow, after three days of training. 'If he trains again and tells me he is fit then he's fit,' said Keller.

The German club have been hit by injury problems. Huntelaar, Farfan and Hoger are all unavailable through injury.

Ashley Cole and Andre Schurrle trained with Chelsea in Surrey on Monday prior to the squad’s departure for Tuesday’s Champions League match at Schalke.

Left-back Cole (ribs) and forward Schurrle (leg) missed Saturday’s 4-1 defeat of Cardiff at Stamford Bridge, but the Blues confirmed on their official website that the pair trained at Cobham on Monday morning.

Both could come into contention for the Champions League Group E contest at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen in Chelsea’s first match in Germany since lifting the 2012 European Cup.

Nik Simon: It took just eight seconds for Tim Cahill to find the net for the New York Red Bulls on Sunday as the Australian scored the fastest goal in Major League Soccer history.

The former Everton man charged forward from the kick off and controlled a long ball from Dax McCarty before turning instantly to blast his strike past Houston Dynamo keeper Tally Hall from just outside the area.

Cahill's goal beats the previous record, which stood at 11 seconds from Dwayne De Rosario in 2003, and takes his tally to 10 goals in 25 games.

Neil Moxley: The Football Association will launch an investigation after an assistant referee was struck by a smoke bomb thrown from the stands at Villa Park.

Match official Dave Bryan was hit on the back of the neck after Andros Townsend’s opener in Spurs’ 2-0 victory at Aston Villa, underlining the danger of taking such devices into football stadiums during the weekend’s flagship game.

Two supporters, aged 47 and 25, were arrested by West Midlands Police as the game was held up for treatment to the assistant referee.

While referee Anthony Taylor dominated the headlines for his clear gaffe at allowing Chelsea’s equaliser on Saturday, there were a few other errors which could have affected results in the Premier League.

Nobody is now disputing that Eden Hazard’s goal — which resulted from Samuel Eto’o illegally playing the ball while it was in the possession of Cardiff goalkeeper, David Marshall — should have been disallowed.

Taylor will no doubt be cursing his ‘bad luck’ at the unusual incident, which occurred at the exact moment he glanced away from the area while jogging backwards towards the half-way line.

Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom is set to join Derby on loan for the remainder of the season.

Steve McClaren has wanted to bring in a new defender since becoming head coach at the Sky Bet Championship club at the beginning of this month and the former England manager made an approach for the versatile Wisdom, who can play at both right-back and centre-half, over the weekend

McClaren made his move after seeing Zak Whitbread, on loan from Leicester, suffer a calf strain during the first half of the Rams’ 3-2 league win at Watford on Saturday.

Richard Arrowsmith: Diego Maradona has criticised tax authorities for hounding him while on a four-day trip to Italy.

The World Cup legend is at the centre of an ongoing dispute over unpaid taxes during his time as a Napoli player between 1984-1992, with authorities notifying him on Friday that they would begin proceedings to freeze his assets in Italy to pay off a tax debt of £33million.

Maradona has avoided the country after having two gold Rolex watches worth £9,000 and diamond earrings worth £3,700 confiscated in the past.

Nik Simon: When Jack Wilshere played for Knebworth Under 7s as a five-year old, his mother had already spotted the fight that would one day help him become an England international.

Kerry Wilshere had to break up squabbles between Jack, siblings and friends as the Arsenal midfielder refused to accept defeat.

That determination has made Wilshere one of Arsene Wenger's finest products and the 21-year-old, with his fine tiki-taka finish against Norwich, has showed why he is one of the country's bright young hopes.

Matthew Morlidge: Fresh from the success of cricket's Indian Premier League, it seems that a new franchise is being set up in the country especially for footballers.

Arsenal legends Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg have agreed to take part in the tournament, due to start in January, while former Manchester United and Chelsea stars Peter Schmeichel and Marcel Desailly will manage one of the eight teams each.

Similarly to the IPL, clubs will bid for the services of players next month, with several other ex-Premier League stars being lined up.

Adam Shergold: All eyes will be on FIFA towers in Zurich this lunchtime as the draw takes place for the play-offs that will determine the final four European sides going to the World Cup in Brazil.

Those eight nations who were unable to win their qualification groups must now negotiate the tricky two-legged ties where nothing is guaranteed.

It will be an anxious wait for the four seeded countries - Portugal, Greece, Croatia and Ukraine - as they wait to see whether they get France, Sweden, Romania and Iceland in the November double-headers.

John Edwards: Real Madrid have yet to come knocking with an £86million cheque, but there are distinct echoes of Gareth Bale about the way Andros Townsend has taken the game by storm for club and country this season.

Tottenham’s world record fee for Bale was never likely to burn a hole in their pocket, and their subsequent recruitment drive took them to all corners of the globe, as they spent virtually every penny on Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and Vlad Chiriches.

The 24-year old was always going to be some act to follow, and it’s little wonder no expense was spared in a worldwide quest to replace him. The answer may have been on their own doorstep all along, however, after the dramatic development of Academy kid Townsend over the past couple of months.

Ralph Ellis runs you through what we learned from the weekend's football... with some star turns and a look through the leagues, too. This week includes how Gareth Barry could overtake everyone on the list of the most yellow cards in the Premier League, Arsene Wenger can expect his Arsenal side to keep going strong and Steven Gerrard gets a round of applause from Newcastle fans.

Joe Strange: Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has warned his international team-mate Robert Lewandowski that 'jokes are over' ahead of Arsenal's Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

In a post on his official Facebook page, the Polish stopper uploaded an image of himself looking serious with a golf club in hand and pointing towards the camera, accompanied with the message 'Słuchaj Robert Lewandowski żarty się skończyły! London calling:)', which translates as 'Listen to Robert Lewandowski jokes are over! London calling:)'.

The Gunners currently sit top of Champions League Group F after wins over Marseille and Napoli but face arguably their toughest match of the competition so far when last season's runners-up visit the Emirates.

Rik Sharma: Placards inside the Sir Alex Ferguson stand at Old Trafford, stirring words excerpted from the former manager's goodbye speech, read: 'You have been the most fantastic experience of my life. I've been able to manage some of the greatest players in the country. Those last-minute goals, the comebacks, even the defeats, are all part of this great football club of ours. Your job now is to stand by our new manager.'

Presumably they were chosen to encourage supporters to give David Moyes' regime a chance. After nearly 27 years of having Ferguson at the helm, nobody knew how fans would react to change.

Colin Young: If Liverpool's 6-0 win at St James' Park last season was one of the low points of Alan Pardew's Newcastle reign, the 3-1 defeat at home by Sunderland must rank as the lowest.

Last season Brendan Rodgers' side overcame a Newcastle team bruised by that defeat and still haunted by Paolo Di Canio's knee-sliding celebrations. It earned him instant hero status on Wearside but wasn't enough to keep his job in the end.

The fixtures are reversed this season and the Italian will not be on the Sunderland bench when they host the 144th Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday. Newcastle are certainly the form side and will be heartened by Saturday's draw, achieved with 10 men.

Sam Cunningham: Ian Holloway is determined not to repeat the mistakes he made at Blackpool when they were relegated from the Premier League.

In his first season there, he led Blackpool to the top flight for the first time in 40 years. He took them up via the play-offs in 2010, as he did with Crystal Palace last season, but they went straight back down and he risks the same happening again.

Palace boss Holloway plans to bring in new recruits in January. He knows he must halt his side’s dire run of one win and six defeats in seven games this season, starting at home to Fulham on Monday.

Patrice Evra has been asked by the French Football Federation to explain his outspoken attack on a host of pundits - including legendary left back Bixente Lizarazu - in a television interview.

The Manchester United full-back labelled 1998 World Cup winner Lizarazu and three other pundits 'tramps' on French TV programme Telefoot.

The group had criticised the impromptu half-time talk he gave his team-mates during half-time of the 2014 World Cup qualifier with Belarus in September when he was only a substitute. France ended up winning the game 4-2.

Anthony Taylor is not enjoying a good start to the season but it was not his knowledge of law that caused him to make an embarrassing mistake on Saturday. It was forgetting the fundamental advice that every referee is taught when they begin officiating: keep your eye on the ball!

With Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall in possession, Taylor was right to jog backwards up the field.

However, as he could see that Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o was standing alongside Marshall he should have kept a close watch on the incident. He failed to follow that basic instruction and looked away.

Riath Al-Samarrai: Sunderland have a six-day wait until they play Newcastle and that was just about the only thing Gus Poyet could celebrate at the weekend. Time is something he desperately needs if he is going to solve the riddle he has inherited from Paolo Di Canio.

He failed spectacularly in his first attempt on Saturday and now must contend with the stigma that Sunderland have equalled the worst start to a season in the Premier League era.

It’s almost entirely a problem caused by others but what can Poyet do to save a situation that seems so dire?

Neil Ashton: Send Andros Townsend into space and there is every chance the Tottenham winger will return with a sprinkling of stardust.

That’s the way things are for Townsend as he comes to terms with his meteoric rise to the top of English football. He has worked for it. From World Cup to hero worship at White Hart Lane, he has cracked it for club and country. He is a joy to watch right now.

His 31st-minute goal was speculative and audacious, ending a move involving Lewis Holtby and Roberto Soldado when his spinning cross eluded Brad Guzan in Aston Villa’s goal. It was Townsend’s first in the Premier League for Spurs and came at a time when they had to establish authority.

Chelsea break with their usual European routine by training at HQ in Surrey this morning before flying to Germany later today for tomorrow's Champions League game against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen. Jose Mourinho has declined the opportunity to train in the Veltins Arena ahead of the game.

Juan Mata said: 'We’re starting one of those key weeks of the season, and I hope it will be, at least, as good as the last one. Little by little we’re consolidating a good streak of results and getting settled at the top side of the table, and we do want to keep this pace to also climb in our Champions League group.'